1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power management integrated circuit (IC), and more particularly to an energy and power management IC device having a built-in processor for multiple self-charging power modules.
2. Discussion of Related Art
On the basis of power management IC technology, the power of a power source such as a battery is controlled and managed to be appropriately distributed according to the states of output loads including a radio frequency (RF) module, a processor, a peripheral device, a sensor, etc., thereby extending the life of the battery. As systems become complicated and provide various high-performance services, the power management IC technology is gradually getting important for mobile devices that use a power source of limited capacity such as a battery.
In general, a power management IC consists of a switching device and a power conversion and control circuit, and may be implemented as one chip or two chips according to application field. With the development of a power management IC process, power management ICs are gradually being implemented as one chip.
The power conversion and control circuit may be implemented in several methods, typically as a boost power conversion and control circuit, a buck power conversion and control circuit, and so on. Battery power management IC technology is being developed into high-function and high-performance power management IC technology obtained by combining battery management IC technology with existing power management IC technology.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional battery power management IC device.
Referring to FIG. 1, a general battery power management IC device 100 includes a battery 110, a power management IC (PMIC) 120, a storage device 130, and an output load device 140.
The battery 110 transfers power to the PMIC 120.
The PMIC 120 controls and manages the power received from the battery 110. To be specific, the PMIC 120 stores the power received from the battery 110 in the storage device 130, and when necessary, receives and transfers the power stored in the storage device 130 to the output load device 140. Also, the PMIC 120 may transfer the power received from the battery 110 to the output load device 140 without storing it in the storage device 130.
The output load device 140 consumes the power received from the PMIC 120 by itself.
FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the battery power management IC device of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, the battery power management IC device 200 includes a battery 210, a battery protection circuit 220, a battery fuel gauge 230, a charge/discharge control and power control logic 240, a plurality of switch mode power supply (SMPS) converters 251 to 253, and a plurality of loads 261 to 263.
The PMIC includes the battery protection circuit 220, the battery fuel gauge 230, the charge/discharge control and power control logic 240, and the SMPS converters 251 to 253, and controls and manages the power of the power source to be appropriately distributed according to the states of the output loads 261 to 263, thereby extending the life of the battery 210.
The battery protection circuit 220 protects the internal circuit, and the battery fuel gauge 230 measures the remaining life of the battery 210 and transfers a control signal regarding the remaining life to the charge/discharge control and power control logic 240. The charge/discharge control and power control logic 240 receives power from an external direct current (DC) power supply, and generates and manages all the control signals of the circuit. The SMPS converters 251 to 253 convert DC voltage according to a control signal of the charge/discharge control and power control logic 240 depending on the states of the output loads 261 to 263 and transfer the converted DC voltage to the output loads 261 to 263.
However, when the above-described battery power management IC technology is applied to a wireless sensor node (WSN) system, it is very difficult to charge and change a battery.
In a conventional battery power system, the power management IC technology extends the life of a battery. However, because of the limited capacity and life of the battery, the power of the system is consumed, and application service fields are limited. Also, the battery needs to be changed because of its lifespan.